Patrick Mahomes will enter his eighth season as a starter with the Kansas City Chiefs (88-23 since he was named QB1 in 2018) after losing Super Bowl LIX to the Philadelphia Eagles (40-22) when the Chiefs were vying to win a third consecutive Vince Lombardi trophy for the first time in NFL history.
Mahomes posted career lows in passing touchdowns (26) and yards (3,928), while the Chiefs, sometimes with miraculous last-second plays, cruised to a 15-2 record to win the AFC West division and clinch the No. 1 seed in the conference.
After a discreet season, compared to his standards, the six-time Pro Bowler isn't favored to win the 2025 NFL MVP award, with DraftKings (via Fox Sports) giving him the third-best chances to bag the coveted award after reigning MVP, Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen and Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson (+550 both) and Joe Burrow (+650), respectively.
Former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel, Super Bowl XLIV champion with the New Orleans Saints, came to the Chiefs' superstar defense. Daniel shared a clip of himself reacting to this ranking during Thursday's episode of "The Facility."
The 38-year-old analyst didn't mince words when describing how high Mahomes ranks compared to other star quarterbacks.
"It's Mahomes, he's a whole tier to himself," Daniel said. "Can you believe he's almost been in the league a decade? It doesn't feel that way because of the consistency in which he's played. He's been to five of the last six Super Bowls, he's won three Super Bowls, he's been to seven straight AFC championship games. Forget about the stats."
Daniel added that Mahomes' career lows in 2024 haven't changed the fact that he's on a league of his own.
"The way that Mahomes and Andy Reid have been able to evolve offensively since he took over as a starter in 2018 has been what we need to talk about. Back in the day, when they had Kareem Hunt, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce in his prime, they were an explosive team. He was averaging 8.8 yards per attempt. That means he's throwing the freaking football down the field."
He added that Mahomes has changed his game over the years to take advantage of his teammates' abilities.
"Look at the last two years to where he's evolved, and I think this is what makes him so great. He has not had the firepower to throw the ball down the field, so what does he have to do? He's got to be better at the line of scrimmage, he's got to be better checking the ball down, he's efficient, he's been effective. 6.8 yards per attempt last year, it's not very high.
"They're not throwing the ball down the field, but they didn't have Rashee Rice last year, they didn't have a full season of 'Hollywood' Brown. Yes, Travis Kelce is coming a little bit slower... Don't talk to me about somebody being better than Patrick Mahomes until someone is able to knock him off the mountain, which I don't see happening."
